So, Apple held its usual autumn press get-together just now, and after a few rather uninspiring ones (to me, at least), they finally managed to blow me away, with the new MacBook Air (especially the 11.6" variant). They also gave a sneak peek at Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, which has... An App Store. An App Store Apple is going to open on Snow Leopard within 90 days.

I'm still curious to see how many Apple users will buy this and let their main computer gradually become as closed and tightly-controlled as a phone.

Nothing about this computer is in any way closed or tightly controlled any more then the last gen MacBook Air right? Or are you bitching today about some potential future you might not like.

I don't even think it is that; he hates Apple and it is an around about way to attack them by dreaming up some conspiracy theory that has no basis in reality. If Apple gave away $200 cash with every laptop purchased he would claim that Apple was trying to flush the economy with money to raise inflation and crash the value of the US dollar thus Apple is the enemy of the United States.

The cold hard reality is that as the number of Mac's grow the more you'll hear conspiracy theorist crap from the peanut gallery and I simply don't see it changing any time soon.

I like how you called him paranoid and speculative, then proceeded to say that you will gain a majority market share, and to shun the unbeliever.
Sounds like speculation and the words of kind of person I'd be paranoid about giving a say in anything.
This is my problem with capitalism run rampant.
Treating the market like a pure democracy while forgetting the fact that there's never been a pure democracy, and pure democracy truly _is_ mob rule.

So, since there's one born every minute, Apple will probably gain more market share, until they stop making real computers, and Steve dies.

I think there will actually be a few people that will jump off of very tall things that day, and I will laugh.

-We already know what Apple is capable of by having a look at the iTunes-iOS ecosystem and the part of OSX's TOS saying that you can't install it on a non-Apple computer.
-This ecosystem has proven to be more lucrative (selling a phone for the price of a laptop and having Apple get a benefit for every single developer on the platform and a margin on every single app. Selling an expensive Mac to everyone wanting to try OSX)
-OSX will soon include an App Store, with the same TOS as iOS' initial ones. Almost a pixel-perfect copy.
-It will also start to behave like iOS : full-screen applications favored, application grid with iOS-like folders.